Try This: Herringbone Marble Tile

This past week we've been making some MAJOR progress on the master bathroom. It's been our "late bloomer" you could say. While most of the other rooms were getting painted and stained and tiled, it was just sitting there, gutted, all summer with no attention whatsoever. But now, its moment has arrived!

I'll wait to share full details on this room's before/after transformation, but let me just tell you—it's been epic. I think it's going to win the award for "most improved" (and the kitchen is not too happy about that).

One of the most exciting updates is the herringbone tile floor. I shopped all over for tile and I'll let you in on a little secret—it's expensive! Like, make-you-wanna-cry-expensive. And even when you save your pennies by choosing less expensive tile options, the installation is still typically twice as much as installing wood. Since we did multiple rooms at once, the cost added up FAST, and we realized quickly that fancy, patterned marbles were not an option in our budget. So for the small part of our bathroom that is tile floor, we decided to go with the same super-basic 12×12 marble that we did for our kitchen, breakfast nook and sunroom. I loved it in those bigger spaces, but for our bathroom I was concerned that it wouldn't look right. It's a VERY small floor space and I really wanted small tile to give it a fuller, more patterned look (but again, my budget said "NO").

One day when I was watching a contractor cut tile for our kitchen, I had the idea to cut down the 12×12 tile into strips to create a herringbone pattern for that small bathroom floor. It's a lot of extra effort (and usually an extra cost) to add a lot of extra cuts, but I worked it out with our (AMAZING) tile guy, and he agreed to try it for us.

This simple technique took our bathroom floors from "pretty" to "pretty amazing". It's a great way to customize a less expensive tile to make it feel more expensive and custom.

We decided to cut down the 12×12 marble to 4×12 strips, so each piece has two extra cuts. The results are incredible! Here are a few photos from the first day they went down (they're still pretty messy, so don't judge).

AUGH! It's SO GOOD, right? I'm so happy we tried something a little different for this space. It feels like the perfect fit! Renovating is such a funny thing because it's SO. BORING. for months and months and months, and then at the end, it's kind of like fun overload when the finishes start coming in.

Here's how it's looking today with white grout (the walls are going to be grouted with soon too).

I can't wait to share more from our bathroom adventures (yep—adventures) with you. It's been a crazy year, and I have learned more about homes and renovating than the rest of my life combined. For now I just wanted to pop in and share this quick tip for making less expensive marble tile look more custom! xx- Elsie

Thank you so much!! I’m so glad it worked! My first contractor refused to do it b.c he said it would “cut your feet” (I think he just didn’t wanna do it though, b.c my feet are fine!)
I can’t wait to show you the finished look!
xx- Elsie

I know this project was a while ago, but my husband and I had a similar idea to cutting down marble tiles. Is it slippery at all? Planning on doing in kitchen and powder room and have two young kiddos who love to run around (I’m sure you know!).

These look great! I’m not a huge fan of herringbone but this works well. I think i still prefer a simple marble floor for the bathroom, instead bringing that texture up in the walls through either painting techniques or wallpaper. It’s great for a minimal effect however when it’s on the floor.

Ilana,
Yes- it really depends on your contractor. Mine did not charge extra, but it was a tiny space AND he was hired for a whole bunch of jobs at once so he did it for us without a charge. Patterned marble is quite a bit more than this 12×12 so it almost certainly saves money for almost everyone. The question is just how much!
xx- Elsie

I just found your blog and am I am in love with these floors. We are in the middle of an especially hellish master bath remodel and I would love to know what tile you used. Following you on everything now!

Do you recall if your tile contractor used a wet saw or tile cutter? Just curious because if tiles were cut with a wet saw, you would lose material due to the kerf of the blade. I am interested in tiling the same pattern in my bathroom and only tiles I can find at Blue or Orange are 3×6 subway tiles.

I just found your blog and am I am in love with these floors. We are in the middle of an especially hellish master bath remodel and I would love to know what tile you used. Following you on everything now!